Two Vista desktops, one connects, other doesn't.

bagof4grapes · Nov 26, 2007

My roommate and I both have brand new HP desktops with Vista Home Premium 32bit installed. We're on the same router and my internet works just fine. Hers, however has stopped working some time ago and everyone who's looked at her computer thus far has been stumped. Thinking back to when it first stopped working, she can't come up with anything she did to her computer that might have caused this.

She's using Internet Explorer 7. Any website she tries connecting to times out. However, the network icon in the toolbar says she has both local and internet access. The status light on the router that's connected to her computer is on and solid. All her firewalls are turned off. I even tried turning one on and no difference. The diagnose and repair tool only tells me there's an irreparable error and that I should contact my network administrator.

I just read this thread---> http://www.vistax64.com/vista-gener...twork-behavior-has-me-stumped.html#post526346
...and it sounds very similar to my problem. This guy says that he put Firefox on his computer through an FTP address and it worked.

Since my roommate's computer is saying that she's connected I have a feeling that it's a problem with the browser. If I could just figure out how to put Firefox on her computer (so long as it worked) we would be happy. She's not computer savvy so she'd just be happy to have internet access back, regardless of what browser she's using and I never use IE anyway; Firefox all the way!

Still, that might not even be the problem. Any ideas? Any information I left out?

Brink · Nov 27, 2007

Hi Bagof4grapes,

Welcome to the forum. :party:

I do not know if it will help or not, but here is the link where you can download the free Firefox browser. You just need to install it, and make it your default web browser when it asks you.

Firefox web browser | Faster, more secure, & customizable

Hope it helps,
Shawn

bagof4grapes · Nov 27, 2007

Oh, thanks. :-) I know how to install Firefox, I've got it on my own computer. I meant an FTP download link for my roommate's computer since I wouldn't be able to access a normal link. Still, I managed to find one and it didn't work.

Thanks anyway!

rgongora · Nov 28, 2007

Have you verified that she has a functional IP Address though? Have you been able to ping your router from that maching if any is in use?

I had a similar problem on one of my pc's and it said i was connected when i checked but it was stuck on "Aquiring network address"

I tried everything from rebooting the router to rebooting the machine several times hoping to get an ip addy. none of this worked.

I finally got it working by uninstalling the protocol and all the network services, rebooting and reinstalling them again.

Justthink

in 5661 posts i will catch up to you Brink :P

Hope this helps.

bagof4grapes · Nov 28, 2007

Thanks for the suggestion. None of that sounds like anything we've tried so far so it's definitely worth a shot. However I haven't the slightest idea how to do any of that! I know how to find the IP address but how do I figure out if it's functional? How do I ping the router? What do you mean by protocol and network services? Yeah, I'm lost.

periboob · Nov 30, 2007

Not a guru here, but this is what I would try. Open a Command Prompt (from accessories) and type
" ping google.com " without the quotes. This tests a lot of things, and if you get any reply, it means that your internet connection is mostly working, and suspect IE problems. If you get no "Replys" then type " ipconfig /all " this will give you basic parameters for your computer's connection settings. Mine looks like this (at least the critical part--there will be more, but one part should be a listing for the network connection you are trying to use.)

Code:

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-89-7E-Dx-2F-74
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.52(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 204.127.203.135
                                       4.2.2.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Yours should say "DHCP Enabled -- Yes" more than likely.
This says your computer is set up to let the router manage things like assigning non conflicting IP addresses. A lot of the other stuff I dont understand well enough to explain.
But the Default Gateway number, is the address that your computer thinks is the router's. Most frequently it is 192.168.0.1, but not always. So, the most basic "ping" is to that address. Like
"ping 192.168.0.1 " without quotes

By the way, did you try resetting the router? Just unplug its power for 30 seconds or so, then plug it back in. I have no idea why this works, but it is easy and safe, and on occasion, it has worked for me.

By the way, if you are kinda new, you want to be really careful about running command-line instructions (or other programs) you find on the internet, my basic rule is to always try something like "ipconfig /?" first, to see what that command does. If that is not clear enough, try windows help, or maybe one of the Microsoft documentation sites. Just saying, try to have an idea what a program is supposed to do before deciding to run it on your system.

bagof4grapes · Nov 30, 2007

Hm, I got some pretty bleak results. I tried pinging Google and got no replies. I used ipconfig and the section with all her network settings looked just like mine.

Her computer's been like this for several months now. We've tried rebooting her computer, rebooting the router, rebooting the router then rebooting her computer, rebooting her computer THEN rebooting the router, then doing all that plus rebooting the modem...

Ooo, I just thought of something that might have been the cause of this! A BIG something! Janel's computer lost internet access around the same time my other roommate, Lacey installed a wireless router for our TiVo. Lacey has since moved out and taken her TiVo and wireless router with her but ever since then Janel's computer has remained internet-less. My computer had some trouble with the wireless router as well (which is why I now have a brand new one, lol) but I never lost internet access, my files started getting corrupted and my hard drive went haywire (virus?).

It was an unprotected wireless connection because Lacey didn't know how to set it up properly. I'd never dealt with wireless before so I knew even less than she did. When her fiance, Josh found out we were using an unprotected wireless connection he unplugged it immediately and told us that was probably why Janel and I were having computer problems. Who knows what we picked up through that unprotected connection! I had no idea it was unprotected or I would have disconnected it myself! If I had known Lacey had set it up all by herself I would have questioned its reliability and called Josh to come check it out before I used it, lol.

Both the wireless router and the router we're using now are 4-port EtherFast Linksys routers. They looked exactly the same except the wireless one had an antenna.

Can anyone deduce anything from this new information?

periboob · Nov 30, 2007

Just kind of brainstorming here, You say you cannot ping Google, so that suggests more than a browser problem. But you say the little network icon claims to be connected? Other pings to try -- ping your router (your router's address is the "Gateway" number from the ipconfig results.) then try to ping 4.2.2.1 this is a public DNS address--everyone should be able to ping them.

Hummm, her ipconfig results should not look exactly like yours. If you both have the same IPv4 address, that would be wrong. At least it would be wrong if trying to connect the computers together. I guess as long as they were not on at the same time it might not matter... But having the same ip address is generally bad.

Both computers are on wired connections, right? So, what I posted above, where in my ipconfig results, the important section is titled "Wireless Network Connection:" the important section for yours is in the section labled "Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection" (I dont know what the "tunnel" sections are--I sorta doubt that they are your problem) This is the typical default name given for the hardware in your computer that connects through the Wired ethernet cable (looks like a fat phone line connection)

I dont suppose its something as simple as the computer (the one that cant connect) being previously connected with its wireless adapter, and the wired adapter being turned off? So that when the wireless router was taken away there was nothing for it to connect to?

As to the security of open wireless, from what I have read, it seems that the risks of open wireless are not so much infections of your computer, but gathering private information. Every internet cafe, motel, library etc wireless system is "open". So unless you are in a really bad neighborhood (like a college area :geek:

) you are probably ok.

bagof4grapes · Nov 30, 2007

Actually, I live right next to a University campus in a very large apartment complex full of college students. I'm probably in the worst situation for an unprotected wireless connection, heh. :rolleyes:

Well yeah, her ipconfig didn't look absolutely identical to mine, I just meant the Gateway and the DHCP and stuff, the things you told me to look at. And yeah, we're wired so I was looking at the "Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection" section.

Every computer in the apartment is connected to the same router and I've triple and quadruple checked to make sure Janel's cable is connected to her computer securely. I've even tried switching cables and using one that I know works to make sure it's not because of a damaged cable. I know it has nothing to do with that anyway because I can see her computer through the network.

Besides, her problem started when the wireless router was installed. It had ethernet ports so we were still able to use wired connections, but I remember my computer telling me it had discovered a wireless connection so we were definitely able to access it. Or at least I was. I don't remember if Janel was ever able to.

I wonder if the wireless router made some sort of change to her internet connection settings and it's stayed like that ever since, even after we switched back to the ethernet router. Remember, we can see each other over the network and the status icon on her toolbar says she has both network and internet connection so her computer's connected, there's just something specific to the internet connection that got changed or isn't functioning.

Oh, and from Janel's machine I tried pinging the router and the DNS address and got replies both times. That's a good sign, right?

By the way, thanks for your help so far, it's the best anyone's offered yet.

Brink · Nov 30, 2007

Hi BagOf4Grapes,

You might take a look at this tutorial to test and see if it may be a TCP/IP Auto Tuning issue on her end.

How to Test the TCP/IP Receive Window Auto Tuning in Vista

Shawn

periboob · Nov 30, 2007

Can you ping 64.233.167.99 ?

If you can ping the router, and other ip addresses, and not google.com it sounds like a DNS problem, but I dont know how to fix. It is getting a little above my experience level. I tend to poke at things slowly and carefully, if Brink can help, it will likely be better than my feeble efforts.

bagof4grapes · Nov 30, 2007

Yeah, I can ping it. Well, I guess that narrows it down. DNS problem, huh? That goes completely over my head. I'll utilize Brink's tutorial and see if that does anything but if not, I'm going to need help looking into DNS problems.

Thanks for your help, guys!

Brink · Nov 30, 2007

BagOf4Grapes,

Sometimes flushing (clearing) the DNS cache will help resolve things. You might give it a try if the TCP/IP Auto Tuning is not the issue.

How to See and Flush the Contents of the DNS Resolver Cache in Vista

P.S.
Periboob, I think your doing a great job in trying to help with this to.

Shawn

bagof4grapes · Nov 30, 2007

Haha, actually, I already found that link and I just flushed it. No success. I could try rebooting the computer but my roommate isn't home and I don't know her password. That'll have to wait until later.

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